The Truly Needy And Other Stories (Pitt Drue Heinz Lit Prize)

The Truly Needy And Other Stories (Pitt Drue Heinz Lit Prize)
Average customer rating:

Takes you places you've never been -- a fine collection

Provocative stories by a serious, gifted writer

The Truly Needy And Other Stories (Pitt Drue Heinz Lit Prize)
Lucy Honig
Manufacturer: University of Pittsburgh Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0822957817

Book Description

These nine stories are teeming with people on the margins, where destitute New Yorkers and determined immigrants are as much at the mercy of social services, media attention, opportunistic politicians, and "quality-of-life" campaigns as they are prey to grinding poverty, dangerous streets, and their own haunting memories. Delving into Lucy Honig's fiction, one is willingly drawn into an intimacy with these resilient, but flawed characters—among them, a woman who cleans a beauty salon, a high school kid who’s lost a parent, a runaway Cambodian bride, an actress, and a homeless woman. Crossing paths, these difficult characters often misunderstand and sometimes demean each other, yet they also redeem and rescue one other in odd and unexpected ways. In The Truly Needy, Lucy Honig has created a heartbreaking, imaginative world that is the American urban landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Takes you places you've never been -- a fine collection.......1999-11-06

A lovely and troubling collection of stories. Kirkus seems bothered by the fact that in many of the stories, there is no tidy resolution -- but isn't that a lot more like real life? (Kirkus probably reads too many books...) In this collection you can really get to know some of the people who you might recognize on the street, or who you already know in passing -- and thus for anyone who is a genuine student of human nature and the human condition, this is a deeply satisfying collection. I had the pleasure of reading Honig's novel Picking Up so was pleased to see that she had published another book and won another prize -- Picking Up, also a prizewinner, is worthy of much wider dissemination and maybe now it will get a second chance.

Provocative stories by a serious, gifted writer.......1999-10-05

What a pleasure it is to read the stories that make up Lucy Honig's superb collection. The Truly Needy is the work of a serious, gifted writer who pulls no punches as she takes us into the lives of difficult people driven to define themselves in the American urban landscape. The prose is luminous, the structure tight, and the characters compelling. Check out this book for a provocative and satisfying read.

With A Single Spell
Average customer rating:

Light Fantasy

Hardcover please!

Can he slay the dragon, wins the princess and the gold?

This is what Fantasy should be

Seers and Sorcerers
With A Single Spell
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Watt, Evans Lawrence | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Misenchanted Sword

The Unwilling Warlord

The Spell of the Black Dagger (Legends of Ethshar)

Blood of a Dragon

Taking Flight

ASIN: 0345326164
Release Date: 1987-02-12

Book Description

A SINGLE SPELL

Tobas had been lucky to find a wizard to take him on as apprentice. But then the wizard died suddenly and unexpectedly after teaching Tobas only a solitary spell, and the youth was too old to find a new master. How could he earn a living when all the magic he could do was light fires?

A DESTINY UNFOLDING

In the Small Kingdoms there were dragons to be slain, princesses and gold to be won, magic castles, witches who knew the secret of immortality, and other treasures. But how could a wizard with a single, simple spell hope to find them and win them?

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Tobas had been lucky to find a wizard to take him on as apprentice. But then the wizard died suddenly and unexpectedly after teaching Tobas only a solitary spell, and the youth was too old to find a new master. How could he earn a living when all the magic he could do was light fires?

Customer Reviews:

Light Fantasy.......2007-05-29

Tired of epic stories that go on and on and on? Sick of novels in which the Hero saves the world five times and that's just in chapter one? Hate it when you read a book and find out it is number six in a series of twenty and if you read them out of order they will never make sense? Ever have a fantasy novel in which the time line and appendixs take up more space than the story?
Than the works of Lawrence Watt-Evans is for you. Light fantasy, great taste, not boring. Each novel in the Ethshar series uses the same setting, history and magical rules but are not linked in any way. They are a series of stand alone novels! You can pick up any of them and enjoy them in any order you want!
With a Single Spell is where I started and, boy, am I happy I finally opened the pages. I'm not normally into fantasy for many of the reasons above but this book, while not trying to be a comedy, does give us the lighter side of a magical land. We follow Tobas, a young wizard or an old apprentice, who knows only one spell on his way to finding a life. But what can he do with one spell? One SPELL! Yet he has to go make a living in a world where magic is repected but also not that uncommon. Pirates, big cities and dragons, oh my!
I will not give away the ending but I have to say the book did seem to go a tad slow at first. I am going to collect the other books and maybe search out some of his other series as well. Anybody who loves fantasy should get this book.

Hardcover please!.......2007-01-16

All of Lawrence Watt-Evans books are wonderful. Please print these in hardcover though!!! I hope somebody is listening out there.

Can he slay the dragon, wins the princess and the gold?.......2005-06-21

This is the second book in the Ethshar series. We are introduced to Tobas, the main character of this book, who starts off in the book as a basically a lazy bum. Early in the book he is constantly looking for a scheme so he can enjoy the good life without working for it. Tobas talks a wizard into taking him in as an apprentice; unfortunately the wizard dies after teaching Tobas only a single spell. Tobas ends up having several adventures.

Lawrence Watt-Evans is publishing online "The Spriggan Mirror." This is the ninth book in his Legends of Ethshar series. I read a couple chapters and found them well written and fun. Amazon's guidelines ask that URLs not be included in a review, but if you'd like to read about Lawrence's efforts to publish online, go into goggle, search for "The Spriggan Mirror" and you'll find the web page.

"With a Single Spell" sets much of the background for "The Spriggan Mirror." It is in "With a Single Spell" that Tobas creates the mirror that causes so much havoc.

"With a Single Spell" is a fun story. It is well written and moves along quickly. Lawrence Watt-Evans writes a well fleshed out world of magic. Tobas travels through various parts of this world so we get a good feeling for this detail rich environment.

Tobas joins a group of men who are going to try to slay a dragon which has been terrorizing a small kingdom. He ends up traveling to another world, rescues a woman there, and then comes back to Ethshar to finally face the dragon. By now he has learned enough to more effectively fight with the dragon.

If you like fantasy, or have enjoyed any of the other Ethshar stories, this a good book to buy.

This is what Fantasy should be.......2005-05-26

When I read this book for the first time I was inspired. Finally an author had imbued originality into Fantasy. Many of the cliche plots needed in fantasy were missing, and to my amazement a character with very little promise or power became a hero.
Here was a boy with the high hope of becoming a powerful mage, but after his teacher dies he is left with only one spell. The way the author turns this into a very interesting yet simple novel intrigued me.
Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the few Fantasy authors that really explores the fantasy genre, creating different ways to turn it on it's head.
One of the few books that actually made me laugh...how often does a fantasy novel do that and still retain a rich world that isn't comical and foolish.

Seers and Sorcerers.......2005-01-12

This was my first experience with the Ethshar Hegemony and its world. I first read the book about 10 years ago, and have since re-read it many times. From the lazy overage apprentice to the young polygamist wizard, Tobas shows some signs of maturing, all the while illuminating his world for us with an incredibly rich cast and detail, from stupid dragons to smart (if poor) kings with too many daughters, kindly sailors to indifferent wizards, legendary wars and lost spells, beautiful witches and princesses, as well as ugly ones. Ethshar of the Spices is a particularly fascinating city with too many fascinating throwaway ideas to numerate. Just the consultation made by Tobas to an ethsharian diviner at the end of the book opens up new vistas. I recently purchased The Misenchanted Sword, and fell in love with the whole world again, I'm now buying up the rest of the series and can't wait.

Average customer rating:

WITH A SINGLE SPELL
LAWRENCE WATT-EVANS
Manufacturer: GRAFTON BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S9M6BO

Average customer rating:

With a Single Spell
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K6QD9G

Average customer rating:

With a Single Spell
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Manufacturer: Leisure/Wildside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0843960728

Average customer rating:

With a Single Spell
Gene Walden
Manufacturer: Del Rey Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 5551081184

Rebels' Seed
Average customer rating:

The continuing saga

Rebel's Seed

Rebels' Seed
F.M. Busby
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Busby, F.M. | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Zelde M'Tana

STAR REBEL

Rissa and Tregare

ASIN: 0553261150
Release Date: 1986-07-01

Customer Reviews:

The continuing saga.......2003-01-23

This book continues the storyline started with the Rissa trilogy ("Young Rissa," "Rissa and Tregare," and "The Long View"). After "The Long View" comes "The Alien Debt" and then "Rebel's Seed." This story is of Lisele, daughter of Rissa Kerguelen and Bran Tregare. In many ways Lisele is similar to her parents in personality ... yet without their early harsh years of development. Too, this is the story of Arlen Limmer, son of Derek Limmer and Felcie Parager who were main characters in the earlier books as well. Arlen is even more sheltered than Lisele and this plays out in their interraction and developing relationship. It was good to see a continuation in this series, though we lose contact with many of the earlier main characters in this book.

Rebel's Seed.......2000-01-19

Rebel's Seed is the continuing story of Rissa and Tregare. These two together have overthrown the evil United Energy and Transport conglomerate that had held Earth in a stranglehold by creating a Total Welfare State. This is the story of Lisele, their daughter. She survives a shipwreck on a sparsely populated planet and with great ingenuity helps her shipmates defeat the UET outpost that nearly captures them. This is an old story, but one I have read again, and again. I guess I like it so much because the welfare state could really happen. The story can also be found in a book called the "Rebel Dynasty" which also includes the "Alien Debt".

The Rebel Dynasty, Vol. 2 (Alien Debt & Rebels' Seed)

Average customer rating:

The Rebel Dynasty, Vol. 2 (Alien Debt & Rebels' Seed)
F. M. Busby
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Rebel Dynasty, Vol. 1 (Star Rebel & Rebel's Quest)
Zelde M'Tana
STAR REBEL
The Long View
All These Earths

ASIN: 0553269887
Release Date: 1987-12-01

Average customer rating:

Rebels' Seed

Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HESP24

Western seeds of eastern heterodoxy: The impact of Protestant revivalism on the Christianity of Taiping rebel leader Hung Hsiu-chʻüan, 1836-1864

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Western seeds of eastern heterodoxy: The impact of Protestant revivalism on the Christianity of Taiping rebel leader Hung Hsiu-chÊ»uÌˆan, 1836-1864
William R Doezema
Manufacturer: Conference on Faith and History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006P6HHE

Great Tastes Made Simple
Average customer rating:

a great book to build your knowledge of wine

Great book easy to understand

Guiding Two Passions For Taste

Critical Thinking Beyond The Beverage

Great Tastes Made Simple
Andrea Immer
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spirits | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Wine & Winemaking | Wine | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Everyday Dining with Wine

Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier

Andrea Immer Robinson's 2006 Wine Buying Guide for Everyone: Revised Edition (Andrea Immer Robinson's Wine Buying Guide for Everyone)

Andrea Robinson's 2007 Wine Buying Guide for Everyone (Andrea Immer Robinson's Wine Buying Guide for Everyone)

Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food

ASIN: 0767909070
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Book Description

The author of Great Wine Made Simple now adds great eating to her repertoire, showing how to enhance the flavor of even the most casual meals with winning wine selections.

Most wine experts’ advice on wine and food pairings consists of rigid rules that apply largely to haute cuisine and luxury wines. But, in her trademark accessible style, Andrea Immer now takes the mystery out of choosing wine for food–and vice versa. Great Tastes Made Simple unlocks the secrets of basic food tastes–sweet, earthy, savory, buttery, tart, and spicy–and their particular wine affinities.

Giving even ordinary meals extraordinary flavor, Immer shows readers how to bring the flavor alchemy of wine to everyday fare from burgers (with Zinfandel) to macaroni and cheese (with Rioja Crianza). She calls Pinot Grigio her “tuna helper” and likes barbecued brisket with Valpolicella. There’s also plenty of more sophisticated eating, including smoked salmon and Riesling; asparagus hollandaise and Champagne; wild mushroom risotto and California Pinot Noir, to name a few upscale matches. In fact, there isn’t a food or category of food–including a panoply of cheeses, ethnic foods, and desserts–for which Immer doesn’t provide a match and the reasons why they work so well. Chart of mouthwatering pairings and an easy-to-use index make finding wonderful wine and food combinations a snap.

Zeroing in on “wine-loving food”–those flavors, textures, and cooking techniques that truly dazzle when paired with wine–Immer demonstrates how to get the maximum enjoyment out of every food and wine encounter. A selection of twenty recipes–Low Country Shrimp and Grits (think Chardonnay), Beet Risotto (Pinot Noir), Short Rib Ragù (brawny reds), and Warm Chocolate Torte (Madeira)–provides delicious examples of wine-loving dishes and cooking techniques that will become part of every wine-loving cook’s repertoire.

Invaluable in restaurant settings and at home, this innovative guide can make every meal a cause for celebration.

Amazon.com

Great Tastes Made Simple sets out to teach regular people how to pair food and wine by doing just that: pairing food and wine. Andrea Immer asks her readers to cook and uncork and sample flavors, suggesting that a tasting group of friends and fellow food lovers can be invaluable. Fans of Immer's excellent Great Wine Made Simple note that her wine tastings can seem daunting, but they are in fact simple to execute and really do develop a palate. In Great Tastes Made Simple, Immer offers similar tests to help you think about food and wine. The initial exercise is irresistibly simple. She suggests opening a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chianti, and an Australian Shiraz. With that trio, you serve fresh goat cheese, prosciutto, and hummus. Then you try each wine in combination with each food, and see the emergence of flavors: sweet, earthy, smoky, fatty, tart, and hot.

Rather than organizing the rest of the book around certain wines or certain foods, Immer groups her recipes by these six flavors. The elegant recipes are intriguing and usually quite simple (for instance, beet risotto paired with Pinot Noir) and are usually adapted from chefs Immer has worked with in her wine career. The book is larded with tips and surprises: there's a peak-of-summer tasting menu organized around tomatoes; Immer calls pumpkinseed oil "the most wine-loving oil I have ever tasted in my life." Andrea Immer's tastes can be haute, (for her, a good cheese isn't the best Brie at the supermarket, it's Coach Farm goat cheese via mail order), but the great thing about her writing is that she always makes the attainment of these high standards seem utterly manageable. --Claire Dederer

Customer Reviews:

a great book to build your knowledge of wine.......2006-07-31

If you love wine and entertaining as I do, this is a great book. The beginning has a great section on understanding wines and the recipes I've found to be great and love how she matches them up with wine for great entertaining! If you love wine and entertaining and building your knowledge, this is a great book!

Great book easy to understand.......2006-02-25

I loved this book, I bought it because I was going to do a wine tasting for friends and I wanted to provide tasty snacks that would also compliment the various wines. This book guided me in a total understanding of how to pair wines with food and she takes a lot of the complication out of it. I am no longer fearing the wine list in a restaurant!!!

Guiding Two Passions For Taste.......2002-11-20

A real Immer fan, here Andrea is over the top with what many of us really need, how to match great food with great wine. Immer is well trained and experienced with both, and here she combines her normal passion for her subject matter along with clarity and creativity.

This work encourages one to experiment with important contrasts, looking for earthiness vs. spiciness, and the acidity and richness of wine with the food.

This she accomplishes with great text along with Tasting Charts featuring "Matching Food ... with Wine Styles to Try." There one will find unusual combos which we would not normally even attempt, but here are great recommendations to venture out into the world of wine and find new combos.

Even the tougher combos, e.g. Sweet and sour are covered, as she provides a great chart on this mathcing, getting one such as myself to try stuff like Dry Muscat and Viognier which I never would have attempted on my own.

This book is like "Wine Water Wings" which allows one to venture out into deeper wine water to find that ultimate taste explosion with excellent food.

Will become a great companion!

Critical Thinking Beyond The Beverage.......2002-10-29

With this book Immer provides still more useful information for people interested in making wine part of the dinner table. Quite an accomplishment, considering her "Great Wines Made Simple" was for me the most useful wine volume ever encountered. Here, Immer moves beyond the beverage and provides the reader with her accessible theories about how food flavors connect to wine flavors. For someone like me, someone interested in home entertaining and striving to give a guest a memorable dining experience, this book moves past anything else I've read concerning the wine arena.

Unlike other authors who provide esoteric descriptions of wines-- descriptions they don't seem to realize may vary according to the individual inclinations of the taster-- Immer acknowledges the variety of preferences amongst diners. She does not come from an attitude of "informing" readers of her Vast Knowledge; rather she lends teaching tools that enable readers to form their own intelligent opinions of what works and does not work for their particular tastes. A natural educator, she alternates between easily-digested theories, theories often summarized in simple chart form, and hands-on, effective experiments. Her experiments are the most pragmatic kind: tastings. In this way, she promotes an understanding of flavor combinations in a way that is most visceral-- through the mouth.

Her theories make sense, and they work-- I know because I've tried them! Her reading inspired me to spend way too much on sample wines and test them with various foods. Because she is not merely presenting a list of try-this-wine-with-that-cheese, pair-Wine-A-with-Recipe-X, but rather because she is giving us readers categorical theories about why some wine styles connect to certain types of foods, we can develop our own menus based on what foods we are interested in and what wines please our palates. In this way, her book can sit on the shelf beside such theory-driven volumes as "Culinary Artistry," Peterson's "Sauces," Gold's cookbooks, and Schneider's "A New Way To Cook." Immer puts the reader in the creative position rather than calling for imitation with an encyclopedia of recipes.

What is still more appealing about her approach is that she is dedicated to making wine a part of everyday dining. She acknowledges good flavor combinations at every level of cost, time, and creativity. Her enthusiasm for her subject is contagious. It might tempt a reader to obtain her third book, the "Wine Buying Guide." But while Immer's "Wine Buying" guide is fine, it is an example of the "old guard" of wine information: a guide that lets the reader get lost in the forest for all the trees. For me, "Great Tastes" provides a far superior way of thinking, because it empowers me to make choices based on the information on the wine label rather than in a wine guide.

Product Description

Training the German Shepherd dog begins with praise and other associative learning methods. The author advises owners on setting realistic goals. As part of the Training Your Dog Series you will be taught just that; how to train your dog, with special emphasis on your special breed. Virtually every aspect of training is covered, including housebreaking and paper training, basic obedience, teaching the animal to obey both verbal and hand signals, retrieving and walking on a leash. Also covered are humane methods of breaking a dog's bad habits, such as begging, jumping on people, unnecessary barking, and biting. Each book is filled with instructive full-color photos. Other breeds featured in this Series are the Labrador Retriever and the Rottweiler. Paperback / 176 Pages / 6 1/2 x 7 7/8 / 1999

Customer Reviews:

a bit watered down.......2007-06-08

I find most of Baron's pet series books to be very general

Pretty informative........2007-03-18

I was expecting a basic training manual with a few things directed to the GSD but instead it goes from simple sit and come tricks to how to teach your dog search and tracking. It helps by explaining that if you play certain games or teach certain tricks early on, it would help if you are training them for a more advanced work and tasks, like tracking or search and rescue. It has good pictures that explain much of what they are writing about and lots of info and explaining on tricks, the breed and more advanced jobs the GSDs are known to do. I would recommend for anyone wanting to train their dog basic manners and training or more advanced levels of the training or those that just want to know more about the breed and what it is able to do a learn. It is very helpful and great for first time owners.

Elementary Information.......2007-03-09

Not a complete training manuel. Very elementary training. Sit Spot Sit stuff.

A good informative book.......2006-06-29

I wanted to have my first dog. But I wasn't sure which breed. So I decided to do some research on breeds like mastiff, rotweiler, doberman, german shepard, labradors and terriers. I bought one book on each breed (I mentioned). This book I bought for doing some research on german shepard. This is a very good informative book specially for people who want to have their first guard dog. It has explained the breed in easy and detailed way. I would recommend this to anyone who want to go in for german shepard or just want to reserch on this breed. Pictures are quite good specially of the puppy.

A good read.......2006-03-15

For a short read on German Shepards, I found this to be a pretty comprehensive book on the selection and training these dogs. Recommended for anyone contimplating buying one of these dogs and who have never owned one before.

The Everything German Shepherd Book: A Complete Guide to Raising, Training, And Caring for Your German Shepherd (Everything: Pets)

Average customer rating:

buy this book, it's outstanding!
Best German Shepherd Book for new owners
This really is a COMPLETE guide to GSDs

The Everything German Shepherd Book: A Complete Guide to Raising, Training, And Caring for Your German Shepherd (Everything: Pets)
Joan Hustace Walker
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Training Your German Shepherd (Training Your Dog Series)
German Shepherds for Dummies
How to Train Your German Shepherd (Tr-102)
The German Shepherd Today
Training the German Shepherd Dog

ASIN: 1593374240

Book Description

If you're looking for a dog that's intelligent, lovable, and loyal, the German Shepherd is just the breed for you! These highly trainable dogs make them one of the most popular breeds in America. But be prepared—these natural guardians have a protective nature that requires plenty of care and attention.
Packed with tons of information for new and seasoned owners alike, The Everything(r) German Shepherd Book is an authoritative guide to your favorite breed! Pet expert Joan Hustace Walker offers professional advice on nutrition, health care, grooming, and much more.
The Everything(r) German Shepherd Book helps you:

Choose the dog that's right for you

Train and socialize your German Shepherd

Develop a balanced diet and exercise routine

Teach basic obedience and effective discipline

Identify common health problems
With tips like these, your devoted new puppy or adult dog will become that best friend you've been looking for!

Customer Reviews:

buy this book, it's outstanding!.......2007-08-15

I bought this book to prepare ahead of time for my new german shepherd... and this book is absolutely outstanding! It mentally and physically helps prepare you before your GS comes home (and even after). All the information was very helpful... this book doesn't miss a thing. It also provides you with outside resources for information on finding breeders, trainers, etc. The chapters are also easy to navigate if you choose to only read specific sections. The best part is that the content focuses on positive-reinforcement training methods as opposed to negative-reinforcement. You can't beat the price for the quality of information this book provides!

Best German Shepherd Book for new owners.......2007-07-30

I bought several dog books in preparation for my German Shepherd puppy. This by far was the best at giving practical information and advice. It's in a very easy to read format. And, it's a great value too! I don't think any new GSD owner can go wrong with this book. After showing it to my breeder, she even bought her own copy.

This really is a COMPLETE guide to GSDs.......2007-01-09

I have two GSDs and have read quite a few GSD books. To date, I think that this one is the best. It does not go too in depth about any one topic, but rather gives the main points about about several topics. I also read several tidbits of info that I actually didn't already know (and I thought I knew it all by now!).

How to Train Your German Shepherd (Tr-102)

Average customer rating:

How to Train Your German Shepherd (Tr-102)
Liz Palika
Manufacturer: TFH Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Training Your German Shepherd (Training Your Dog Series)
The Everything German Shepherd Book: A Complete Guide to Raising, Training, And Caring for Your German Shepherd (Everything: Pets)
German Shepherds for Dummies
German Shepherds (Complete Pet Owner's Manuals)
The Essential German Shepherd Dog (The Essential Guides)

ASIN: 0793836514

Customer Reviews:

Irish Knitting by Rohana Darlington.......2006-03-08

If you are an Alice Starmore fan, this book is for you. Rohana Darlington takes traditional patterns and gives them a unique twist, incorporating nature and history into her garments. Also like Starmore, Darlington provides background narrative for each pattern and adds helpful notes on color and technique. This is not a book for the novice knitter, unless she is ambitious and ready for a challenge. It is a fascinating read with many beautiful patterns. This book will sit quite comfortably on the shelf with my treasured Alice Starmore collection, when, of course, I am not knitting from it!

Book Description

Bill Ward's long, prolific pin-up career began during World War II when he created a curvy distraction named Torchy for his fellow soldiers. His taste for impossibly buxom blondes—teetering on stiletto heels, legs encased in black nylon, torsos packed into satin gowns—precisely suited Amerca's collective postwar sex fantasy, and the late 50s men's magazine boom made him the most popular girlie artist in the country. Through the 1960s, 70s, 80, and 90s, Ward broadened his range to embrace a variety of fetish subjects, but he never varied from his template of the Ultimate Woman—except to make her breasts a little bigger, her heels a little higher, or the satin and leather encasing her a little glossier. The art of Bill Ward (1918-1998) has become so rare and collectible that photographer and veteran TASCHEN editor Eric Kroll has had to trawl through archives across America to assemble this broad selection of Ward's very best work. Drawn from over 600 illustrations! and interviews with family, friends, employers, and even some of the women who inspired him, this 352-page, meticulously researched book is the definitive tribute to the great Bill Ward and the perfect companion piece, in size and scope, to TASCHEN's The Art Of Eric Stanton.

Customer Reviews:

An Eye Full From Ward.......2007-05-23

Titilating stuff from the master of the Conte crayon bound in spectacular fashion inside this huge tome. The book is dazzlingly thorough in its collection of archive material charting the career of Ward with in depth and informative writing.
The artwork is displayed in its most suitable form, I recently bought a pocket sized collection of Ward's work and it is practically useless in comparison to this full size collection. Having the pictures displayed at this large scale allows you to see just how he worked and just how fluid and confident an artist he was.
A must for pin-up fans or alternatively anyone who wants to show off with their taste in giant books.

Gigantic and comprehensive.......2007-04-27

This is, to borrow from its title, a wonderful book. The huge (13 3/4" x 10 1/2" )tome contains nearly 400 pages, printed on nicely textured photos, crammed with trilingual text and hundreds of illustrations, many of them in full-page size, both in color and black-and-white (actually sepia). As the other reviewer has noted, there isn't any overlap between this book and _The Glamour Girls of Bill Ward_, so you can safely get both of them to have an excellent, wide-ranging collection of Ward's work. As with the other work, the core of this book is the middle section containing nearly 200 drawings from Ward's glory days between 1947 and 1967, featuring the voluptuous, gorgeously dressed glamour girls that he's most famous for. The book contains extensive samples from his early work (featuring his well-known "good girl art" character Torchy) and his later, more explicitly sexual projects, but the reader can easily see that Ward's heart and enthusiasm belonged to his beloved glamour girls; the later nude cartoons are as skillfully executed as his classic cartoons, but in my own opinion, lack much of the spirit that animated his great 1950's and 1960's works (indeed, Ward was known to admit that he did much of the later work strictly for the money, particularly the BDSM drawings which form a big part of his later oeuvre). Again, it was the Ekbergesque glamour girls that he loved drawing best, and the reader gets a thoroughly satisfactory helping of them here. Expensive (though not as much so as the out-of-print hardback edition of _Glamour Girls_), but very much worth the money. Strongly recommended.

Bill's doxy.......2006-08-15

It's unfortunate that Bill Ward's most well known pin-up work appeared in down-market, scruffy, digest-sized magazines because it meant that he was not considered with the big names like Varga, Petty or Elvgren and many others who created 'painted ladies'. This huge book (check out the dimensions, above especially the thickness: two inches) will most likely become the standard reference to his work though.

The book divides his career into three sections; the early years show work for various comic book publishers and his Torchy title where you can clearly see the origins of his later glamour style. The second section has 180 of his Conte crayon cartoons for Abe Goodman's various Humorama digest-size titles and this is the art that Ward is famous for.

Between 1947 and 1967 he claims to have drawn more than seven thousand of these sexy females and despite the large number they are each worth serious money to collectors. These drawings are one, two or four to a page and printed in sepia with white highlights. Another book of his work 'The Glamour Girls of Bill Ward' (ISBN 1560975318) has about 116 Conte drawings all one to a page and nicely doesn't seem to have any pictures duplicated with this Kroll book. If you can take your eyes of the dames you'll notice how Ward used embossed wallpaper samples to create curtains, cushions and sometimes filmy negligees by putting the sample under his drawing paper and rubbing the Conte crayon across the relevant area.

The third section of the book covers work after Humorama and here I think his style lacks the creativity of the Conte work. There are plenty of examples of paperback covers, color cartoons, comics, covers to porno magazines and a real surprise, the 1954 Lili St. Cyr lingerie catalog where Ward created precise model drawings with Lili's face on each.

At the front of the book Eric Kroll writes a fascinating fifty-page introduction with many quotes from the artist and illustrated with plenty of artwork and photos, in this beautifully designed and printed book devoted to the glamour work of Bill Ward.

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$159 already?! Well, worth every penny!
The greatest volume of Ward's work
Well Done
The Conte crayon king

The Glamour Girls of Bill Ward
Bill Ward
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Pin-Up Art of Bill Ward
The Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole
The Pin-Up Art of Bill Wenzel
The Wonderful World of Bill Ward, King of the Glamour Girls (Various)
The Pin-up Art of Dan DeCarlo

ASIN: 1560978465

Book Description

The best of the 1950s pin-up king.

Renowned pin-up artist Bill Ward gets the full coffee-table treatment in this lavish oversized full-color paperback edition of the acclaimed 2003 hardcover featuring Ward's most polished, fully-realized portraits of the 1950s.

Imagine, if you will, an innocent but stunning young woman boasting the most unlikely Barbie-like proportions—and then some—poured into a wisp of lingerie or clingy cocktail dress, silky opera-length gloves, and sheer thigh-high stockings, perched precariously but not inelegantly atop a pair of dangerously high stiletto heels, and you've got the recipe for the quintessential Wardian glamour girl. Ward's girls became staples of countless men's and humor magazines, where he shared the pages with cult models like Bettie Page and fellow 'good girl' artists such as Dan DeCarlo and Jack Cole. Ward became the standard bearer and justly famous through the '50s and '60s for his angular, high-sheen images of improbably busty glamour girls, a kind of low-rent Charles Dana Gibson.

What set Ward apart—and above—his talented contemporaries was his use of a medium called the conté crayon. When drawn on a simple newsprint stock, this potent combination created a charcoal-like effect and color that gave Ward's original art an elegant sepia-tone quality.

This volume features the best of Ward's Humorama work, including a selection of Ward's infamous telephone girls. Tame by today's standards, Ward's telephone girls were considered provocative at the time, caught as they were in various states of dress or, more often, undress.

The majority of the images in this volume were drawn between 1956 and 1963 when Ward was at the height of his skill, shot from original art and printed in full color. This book not only reproduces over a hundred beautifully rendered illustrations, but captures a more innocent moment in American pop culture.

Customer Reviews:

$159 already?! Well, worth every penny!.......2007-04-27

I bought this book back in 2003 when it was freshly in print and it was, h'mmmm, $28.95 list (just checked the dust jacket). The $159 I referred to is what Amazon Marketplace dealers are asking for it as of late April 2007 - and that's the _least_ expensive price. Take it from me, though; this book is well worth the cost (and if you keep it in good condition, you'll find it appreciating further!) The first part of the book is given over to a comprehensive overview of Ward's life and career, with many illustrations (mostly in color). The heart of this volume, though, is the 130-some full-page reproductions, in B&W and sepia, of Ward's best cartoons featuring his sexy and elegant beauties from what I consider to be his finest body of work in the 1950's and 1960's. The theme-oriented chapters have headings such as "Phone Girls Part 1", "The Mating Game", "Working Girls", "Husbands and Wives", and all provide a splendid overview of Ward's unique "conte" drawing style and his fascination with the accouterments of feminine dress such as high heels, seamed stockings, figure-hugging dresses and gowns, picture hats and opera-length gloves. Compare and contrast with Taschen's new _The Wonderful World of Bill Ward_, which I will also be reviewing in the near future. Highly recommended, particularly in the hardback version (if you can afford it!!)

The greatest volume of Ward's work.......2007-03-21

This is by far my favorite collection of Ward's pinup art. From the gorgeous cover art and dust jacket to the high quality, glossy pages, this tops the other books available. Those of us lucky enough to have bought this rather limited release possess one of the best collections of pinup art from an undisputed master available.

Well Done.......2004-04-08

This is a great book for fans of Bill Ward's pin-up art and features numerous full-page illustrations of his distinctive beauties. Most of the pin-ups are black and white Conte crayon drawings done on a beige colored paper. There are a few color pin-ups shown as well. The beginning of the book contains a concise biography of Ward along with samples of his comic-book art. There are several nice romance covers shown here. The book is printed on quality paper and the pin-ups shown at a nice size. This is an A+ effort. The only thing you could have asked for is more art, but at around 100 pin-ups this is a great tribute to Bill Ward.

The Conte crayon king.......2004-01-22

I don't think Bill Ward sits easily with what are generally considered pin-up artists like Elvgren, Petty, Vargas and the few dozen others who created the genre over the last seventy years but his huge output from 1950 to 1975 (which is the basis of this handsome book) means his work has to be considered.

Examples of Ward's comic art, shown in several color covers (Love Diary, Love Confessions, Love Scandals, Heart Throbs, Flaming Love and Torchy) clearly show how good a draughtsman he was but the clean-up of the market in the early fifties meant he had to find another publications to work for. Abe Goodman's Humorama titles solved the problem. These were cheaply-printed digest size magazines full of bad jokes, cheesecake photos and girlie cartoons. The author Alex Chun says Ward produced thirty cartoons a month for Humorama titles and over twenty-fives years probably drew an amazing 9,000 pin-ups.

Ward's Humorama art was probably the only reason anyone bought these tacky publications. Because he had to produce so much work quickly he developed his own unique style of using Conte crayon to draw pin-ups. This had the advantage of showing tonal quality almost like an airbrush and when the originals (up to eighteen by twenty-four inches) were reduced to the digest size pages they looked impressively slick.

There are 117 whole page Ward pin-ups, all from his Humorama period, in this book. The majority are printed in four-color sepia with white highlights (the front of the book has an essay and examples of his early comic and color pin-up work) and the sexually suggestive, exaggerated females with their black stockings, filmy negligees, skin-tight dresses, coiffure hair and impossibly high stilettos leap of the page. If you are interested in this little corner of American male pop culture I doubt there will be a better book of Bill Ward's voluptuous art.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Book Description

Now available in a handsomely produced oversized paperback—with expanded information and 24 pages of black-and-white photographs—The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues documents more than four thousand players on Negro League teams from 1872 through 1950. Called "one of the best reference books of the year" by Library Journal and named an outstanding academic book of the year by the American Library Association, this is the first book to cover comprehensively the careers of all African Americans who played with a team of major-league quality or whose careers are featured in the history of America’s Pastime. It delivers a wealth of information, from vital statistics and the standard baseball figures of batting averages and pitching records to career data, including years of active play, positions played, team affiliations, and even nicknames. To create this one-of-a-kind reference, baseball authority James A. Riley traveled the country to interview the surviving members of the Negro Leagues about their exploits and the careers of their now-deceased teammates. With this invaluable firsthand information, Riley brings to life the careers of such greats as Satchel Paige, Ray Dandridge, Josh Gibson, and Leon Day. Looking past Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier in 1947, he profiles all Major League Hall of Fame players who also played in the Negro Leagues such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, and Roy Campanella. “A landmark publication in the fields of baseball history and African-American history … a one-of-a-kind work.”—Booklist

Customer Reviews:

An Essential Addition To The Bibliography Of The Negro Leagues.......2007-01-09

Exactly What It's title advertises - an alphabetical listings of players and personalities associated with the Negro Leagues of Baseball. Ranks with "Only the Ball Was White" and The works of John B.Holway as essntial to a study of the subject. Definitely recommended.

Celebrate The Legacy.......2006-12-19

Editor James A. Riley is a renowned expert on the rich history of Negro League Baseball. His crowning achievement is honoring more than 4,000 players and those involved in management between the years of 1872-1950 in this comprehensive biographical encyclopedia.

Included are biographies and statistics on each individual and team, a bibliography that lists the materials used in the research, along with a register of the interviews that Riley conducted.

The Negro Leagues had a major economic and social impact in the black community, featured some of the greatest players & teams that the sport has ever had and was an integrated business on the diamond, inside the front offices and in the stands.

I have always compared the play in the Negro Leagues v. the white MLB to that of the AFL v. NFL and ABA v. NBA; that it was on par or superior to the other major league. The encyclopedia is a celebration of the legacy left by those who not only challenged the institutionalized racial hatred of the times, but triumphed in ways that we can learn from and must never forget.

If You Love Baseball..........2001-08-08

...I question that love if you do not have this book. This is the most concise collection of biographies, stats, and information about every human involved with the development, management, and participation in every Negro League that ever existed. Even players whose first name was not known is listed with at least a few words about when they played and for whom. And the players with extensive history is detailed along with stats and other great side stories about them. There is even information on the teams in the Negro Leagues, which I found most interesting. I don't know of any other book that has as much information on the lesser-known players and behind-the-scenes people in the Negro Leagues than this one. If you are a Negro League fan, you probably already have this book. But if you are a baseball fan in general, you MUST have this book.

Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues 1885-1949

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Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues 1885-1949
James A. Riley
Manufacturer: Mecklermedia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0887368395

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